The numbers are in
Well, it was a lacklustre start to the year in dealership land.
There were 75,863 new vehicles sold in January, down 4.8 per cent from the same time last year.
Passenger vehicle sales fell by 2,853 vehicles or 15.3 per cent, while SUV sales fell by 1,947 or 4.7 per cent in January 2022. The only segments which recorded growth were light commercial vehicles – up 4.4 per cent, and heavy commercial vehicles – up 10.9 per cent.
New vehicle sales were down in all states/territories, except for Tasmania which recorded sales growth of 15.4 per cent.
Ongoing shortages of microprocessors and other components continue to affect automotive supply chains, along with shipping constraints that delay the delivery of new vehicles to dealers and consumers.
Electric vehicles (EVs) continue to sell well with 620 sold in January 2022 – 109.5 per cent growth – as are plug-in-hybrids with 307 sales. Petrol vehicles were the only fuel type to show a sales decline in January, falling by 12.3 per cent.
It’s early days, but there are economic fundamentals underpinning these subdued results. Apart from the supply constraints affecting the market, there are also inflationary pressures weighing in on new vehicle purchases, with the Import Price Index for motor vehicles rising by 4.3 per cent.
The consumer price index also rose by 3.5 per cent in the December quarter, due to rises in automotive fuel costs. These inflationary pressures may be acting to dampen consumer sales to some extent.
There is also talk of interest rates rising this year, coupled with an upcoming federal election, which may be causing uncertainty for consumers.
I wonder what February results will bring…
Data source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Words: VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym.
Share your thoughts! E: ceo@vacc.com.au. As featured in the Herald Sun 11 February 2022.